Training camps opened with two of hockey's biggest names refusing to report — and a rush of clubs locking up everyone who would. Plus Ovechkin's off-ice reckoning and the sport's ordinary churn.
The Two Who Weren't There
Training camps opened around the league this week, and the two loudest stories in hockey were about players who weren't in the building. Winnipeg suspended Connor Hellebuyck after the three-time Vezina winner and 2024-25 Hart Trophy MVP failed to report, turning what had been a summer trade request into an open standoff. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff struck a careful public note, insisting no doors are closed while making clear that any return would have to be commensurate with a player of Hellebuyck's stature. The complications are real: five years remain on his $59.5 million contract, a no-movement clause reportedly rules out all six other Canadian teams, and the suitors named so far — Buffalo, Utah, Carolina and New Jersey — will have to clear that bar. Elsewhere, the picture rhymed. Columbus center Adam Fantilli, penciled in as the team's No. 1 center, did not report either, with agent Pat Brisson holding firm until there is a deal. Two of the sport's most important young-to-prime players, both absent, both with the clock running toward opening night.
Everybody Else Got Paid
If Hellebuyck and Fantilli were the holdouts, they were the exceptions in a week defined by teams getting business done — much of it against a hard deadline, since Tuesday was the last day clubs could sign players to eight-year contracts. Washington used it to lock up Justin Sourdif with an eight-year, $50.8 million deal, betting long on a 24-year-old coming off a solid rookie season. Anaheim's was the headline number, handing 22-year-old Cutter Gauthier a six-year contract at a $13.5 million average annual value after his 41-goal breakout. New Jersey extended newly acquired Luke Evangelista five years at $36.25 million, and Dallas kept versatile penalty-killer Sam Steel on a four-year, $14.8 million pact. And in Carolina, the champions took care of their own, extending 38-year-old captain Jordan Staal — the reigning Conn Smythe winner — on a one-year deal worth up to $10 million. The through-line is cost certainty and continuity, purchased early. It only sharpens the contrast with the two stars still on the outside looking in.
Ovechkin's Off-Ice Reckoning
The week's off-ice story belonged to Alex Ovechkin, who spent his 41st birthday at Washington's media day answering for his appearance in a campaign video supporting Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. The ad, which also featured Slava Fetisov, drew a public rebuke from Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek, who accused the participants of endorsing Russia's war in Ukraine, and prompted U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson to write the NHL asking that Ovechkin be banned. Ovechkin's explanation was characteristically plain: he was asked to do it and said yes because he is Russian and supports his country, while insisting he is full of peace and love and not pro-war. The Capitals, whose general manager Chris Patrick called it a difficult situation he understood fans were upset by, made clear Ovechkin never ran the decision past the team. It is the kind of controversy that doesn't resolve so much as recur, and with the captain of the franchise in the nation's capital at its center, it will not disappear once the puck drops.
Arrivals, a Reward, and Two Goodbyes
Around all that noise, the sport's ordinary churn kept turning. In Toronto, No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna was set to make his preseason debut skating alongside John Tavares and William Nylander — the Maple Leafs' first top selection since Auston Matthews in 2016, and already, at 18, looking the part. San Jose bet on continuity of its own, handing Ryan Warsofsky a multiyear extension after the league's youngest head coach nearly doubled the Sharks' point total in a single season. The goodbyes were quieter. Kevin Hayes, the 805-game forward nicknamed 'Hollywood' who suited up for five franchises, announced his retirement following a brief KHL stint. And the week's hardest news came from Boston, where the Bruins mourned Alex Gimenez, the young front-office executive they had hired only in July. Amid the contracts and the camps, a reminder of the people behind the transactions.